Stars & Stripes Birthday

This is a 3 3/4"x9" card made from dark gray cardstock. I cut a piece of striped cardstock 1/4" smaller and adhered it to the card base. I then cut a strip of dark gray cardstock at 8 3/4"x2" and a piece of white cardstock at 8 3/4"x1 3/4" and adhered them together and then to the card base. My sentiment is stamped in london fog ink by Tsukineko using stamps by Fiskars. They are actually two different stamps that I decided to use together for a fun effect. The star is cut from Cricut Essentials, which is one of the pre-loaded cartridges on the new Cricut Expression 2. I used pop-dots to adhere the star to the card. Nice and simple, and I think it works as a masculine birthday card (which is always a good thing to have on hand). I made this card for the following challenges:

• 365 Cards: "Day 118" - Super Sketchy Sunday sketch


• Birthday Sundaes: stars & stripes birthday card


• Picture Perfect Creations: poppy parade, whisper white, basic gray

God Bless America

Well, I made it back from my adventures in Belize in one piece. It feels like forever since I have crafted anything! Here is my first project since getting back.

This is a 4 1/2"x6 1/4" slider card, made from white cardstock. I cut some blue cardstock at 4 1/4"x6" and the red star paper at 4"x5 3/4" and they are adhered together. The planes are from Stand and Salute and cut at 3." I also cut the "God Bless America" sentiment from Stand and Salute. It was cut at 2," using the shadow feature for the white cut and the regular feature for the blue cut. I adhered the sentiment to the red star paper and added a couple of white pearls to the stars. I cut the lines for my two side planes and mimicked the look with a white strip of paper for the middle plane. I adhered the whole matted piece to the white card base using foam tape so that my planes could slide and spin. I like the effect and think it turned out great for my first project in over two weeks!

I made this card for the following challenges:

• Cupcake Inspirations: cupcake photo (right)



• 365 Cards: "Day 121" - spinner card



• Celebrate the Occasion: 4th of July



• Die Cuttin' Divas: planes, trains & automobiles



• Fantabulous Cricut: use red, white & blue



• My Sheri Crafts: Independance Day



• Scrappy Moms Stamps: Stand and Salute cartridge

Guest Book

This is the guest book I made for my friend's wedding reception. She wanted something different than the usual guest book you see at weddings. When I asked what she wanted she said she wanted something like a yearbook, where people can write well wishes or congratulations. So I made this 8"x8" book and bound it with my Cinch. I used Life is a Beach and Pack Your Bags for all the cuts. I then embellished them with Stickles, glossy accents, crackle accents, glitter, chalk, ink and markers.

Guest Designer at My Sheri Crafts

I am honored to have been selected as the Guest Designer for this week's challenge at My Sheri Crafts! This week's challenge is to create something Summer or Beach Themed.

I created this 8 1/2"x11" layout for the challenge. The background paper is from K&Company. It was a 12"x12" piece of paper that I trimmed to fit. I cut a piece of brown cardstock 8 1/2" long then hand cut it to look like some sand. I ran it through my Xyron sticker maker then covered it with some smoky quartz glitter by Martha Stewart. The photo is 4"x6" and matted twice with blue cardstocks. The light glittery blue cardstock is cut at 4 1/4"x6 1/4" and the dark turquoise one is cut at 4 1/2"x6 1/2." I used All Mixed Up to cut the "beach" sentiment. It is cut at 1 1/2" and I used my Gypsy to weld it. I used Cricut Keystone to cut the B & Y in "boy." They are cut at 1 3/4." I used Pack Your Bags to cut the beach ball for the O in "boy." It is also cut at 1 3/4." I covered the red, blue and yellow pieces with glossy accents. I also used pop-dots to adhere the beach ball to the page, the rest of the title is just adhered onto the paper. The sandcastle is cut at 2 3/4" from Life is a Beach. I added some x-mas red Stickles to the flags. The shovel and pail is from Simply Charmed, I just didn't use the face. It is cut at 2 1/4." I used some diamond Stickles on the white piece on the pail and some glossy accents on the rest of the pail. The photo is the son of a friend of mine. I met her in when I lived in Alaska and was there when her son was born. They now live in Georgia (her husband is in the Army), so she sends me photo updates of the little guy and I just loved this one!

Card Creations & More Challenge #12

Challenge #12 at Card Creations & More by C this week! The challenge this week is to create something patriotic. I decided to create a layout for some pictures of a 4th of July parade that I saw while living in North Pole, Alaska.

This is a double page layout, each page is 12"x12." I used a dark blue cardstock for the base layer, then cut some red and white plaid paper at 10 3/4"x10 3/4" for the next layer. I matted the four photos, which are all 4"x6," with white carsdtock, cut at 4 1/8"x6 1/8." The white are for the journaling is cut at 8 1/8"x4." I then matted it with some red cardstock cut at 8 1/4"x4 1/8" and blue cardstock cut at 8 1/2"x4 1/4." The title is from Graphically Speaking and actually cut at 3/4," turned out pretty large though. It's acutual measurements when cut is 2 3/16" (for the July at least). I added glossy accents to the "July" and x-mas red Stickles to the "fourth of." The three stars are from a Marvy Uchida punch, I used pop-dots to adhere them and x-mas red, midnight blue and crystal Stickles on them. I drew in my journaling lines with a dark blue marker, then actually journaled with a red marker. The Uncle Sam hat is from Independance Day, cut at 3." I used pop-dots to adhere it as well. The little boy on the firecracker is from A Child's Year and cut at 2 1/2." I cut the shadow layer with the dark blue cardstock, then the regular layer with white cardstock. I added some crystal Stickles to him.

Now it is your turn to create something patriotic! Get crafting and link up your project at Card Creations & More by C for your chance to win! I can't wait to see what you create!

Wedding Invitations

My best friend is getting married in Belize on June 17th. I am going to be down there for it, since I am her maid-of-honor. However, I still wanted to share with you all some creations. I made the invitations for her wedding. She and her fiancee picked the colors and sent me a rough idea of what they wanted. I then modified it and drew out a template. When it is all folded up the invite is 4 1/4"x5 1/2." I used Designer's Calendar to cut the rings, which I then ran through my Xyron to make them into stickers...made it a lot easier to put together. I used the computer to print out all the wording and the map.

Blue Jay

My mom requested that I make a card for her to give to a friend of hers. They give each other blue jay stuff, so she wanted a card with a blue bird on it. I have a card I made a while back with a red bird on it, it looks like a cardinal. She wanted something similar to that card, so I basically copied it...guessing on the sizes though since I don't know them anymore. You can see the original card here.

The card is 5"x7" and made of white cardstock. I cut some black cardstock 4 1/2"x6 1/2" then cut some blue cardstock 1/8" smaller. I cut some white cardstock at 4 1/4"x5 3/4," then used a Fiskars border punch on the bottom of it and ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Leafy Branch folder. I cut the bird from Winter Woodland at 3 1/2." I then added some white and black ink to make it look more like a blue jay than just a blue cardinal. I also gave him a black pearl for his eye. I cut a strip of black cardstock and a strip of blue cardstock and adhered it over the middle of the card. I used the computer to create the front sentiment, then matted it with blue and black. For the inside of the card I cut some black cardstock at 4 3/4"x6 3/4." I then cut some blue cardstock 1/8" smaller than the black and some white cardstock 1/8" smaller than the blue. I also cut a strip of black and a strip of blue cardstock and adhered it near the top of the card. I used a stamp from My Pink Stamper for the sentiment on the inside, then matted it with some blue and black cardstock. I think it will be just what she is looking for.

Wedding Cake

This is a wedding cake shaped card inspired by the word "frosting." That is the challenge for Day 103 at 365 Cards...to be inspired by the word frosting and create a card using that inspiration. I used my Gypsy to weld two of the cakes from Tie the Knot. They are 4 1/2" and I used the shadow feature. I cut a blackout version from black cardstock, then cut all the layers in white. I added some Martha Stewart sugar cube glitter onto the cake stand. I also embossed the cake layers with D'vine Swirls, then drew over the swirls with white opal Liquid Pearls. That's all there is to it! Enjoy!!

Two Souls...

This is a 5"x7" card. I used black cardstock for the base, then cut some pink cardstock 1/8" smaller than the black and some white cardstock 1/8" smaller than the pink. I cut a 3 3/4" black circle, a 3 1/2" pink circle and a 3 1/4" white circle. I used that to place my clear gem swirls, then adhered the circles to the card base. I stamped my sentiment, which is from Fiskars, onto the white circle using black Statz-On ink. I added two butterfly dimensional stickers to the circles. I finished it off with three flowers, which I sparyed pink with some cadillac pink Glimmer Mist. I added the black brads to the centers of the flowers before adhering them down.

I made this card for Day 102's challenge at 365 Cards, which is to use many design elements but to keep as few of them from overlapping as possible. I also made this using the pink, black and white color challenge at Paper Cutz.